


The Apothecary

by Artabria



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, W.I.T.C.H.
Genre: Adult Cornelia, Crossover, F/M, Human Inquisitor - Freeform, Post-comic canon, Rating will hopefully change once the author stops being scared about posting anything steamy, WITCH comic verse, male inquisitor - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:36:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25945213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artabria/pseuds/Artabria
Summary: Cornelia Hale, Guardian of Kandrakar, is currently trapped in Thedas and trying to keep a low profile until she can get back home. It doesn't work.
Relationships: Cornelia Hale/Solas
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	The Apothecary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the ships I submitted to Rare Pairs Exchange 2020 was Cornelia Hale/Solas. Then I joked that Cornelia got trapped in Thedas because she was distracted picking up elfroot.
> 
> (I swear this is not a crack fic, even though the idea started out as a joke.)
> 
> So, to whoever finds this fic: Welcome to me trying to manage two different magic systems without making one too OP and a comic that the more I re-read it, the more problems with its canon I find (I still love it, thought).

Cornelia's plan had been simple: Get in, grab the plants, get out. Easy, fast, uncomplicated. All she had wanted was a way to make some kind of healing poultice for a First Aid kit. While she was able to heal wounds, she couldn't always be there, so it would be useful to have something more than alcohol and band aids. It didn't even need to be something powerful, they no longer had any missions from Kandrakar, just something to heal the small wound that the kids from the magic school got occasionally while practicing with their powers.

It had been a simple plan: Use the portal in the bookshop's basement to travel to Thedas, grab some elfroot, leave without anyone noticing her. Kandor had said that the plant was a pretty common weed. It was supposed to be easy. Keyword here, Cornelia thought, was _supposed_.

Because the easy part had disappeared the moment that bright light had illuminated the sky. There was a bright green tear in the sky now, and smaller tears had been appearing on the surroundings of the hamlet she was currently trapped in. She had tried to return to her own dimension several times already, but all her efforts had been fruitless since the tear had first appeared.

So, here she was, trapped in a world without inner plumbing and helping heal the wounded. The situation was pretty bad. There were monsters that the locals called demons, coming out of the tears, but there was also some kind of civil war going on at the same time. Although she wasn't sure if civil war was the proper term.

Most people here seemed to hate magic, enough to put them in jails. Out of sight, out of mind, and who cared what happened to them. The war was between the recently rebelled mages and the military order that their captors were part of. Some people were against what went on in those jails, and thanks to them Cornelia had learned enough to keep her own brand of magic to herself.

Her magic may not come from the Fade, but she didn't feel like finding out what would happen if one of those templars tried to smite her.

As far as everyone else was concerned, Cornelia was just another person caught up in this mess that had decided to stay and help until traveling was safer. Just a young woman that was really good at finding plants and herbs, even in the most unexpected places. Unknown to them, Cornelia was also healing the wounded when she helped to bind their wounds. Not much and not everyone. Just enough to make sure that those close to being dead stayed alive long enough. As much as she feared the templars, she wasn't going to let someone die just because she was too afraid to help them.

There was a knock on the door of her hut and Cornelia left the hair brush she had been using by her nightstand. It was early in the morning, too early for someone to come get her, but there had been some emergencies in the month she had been living here. Sometimes because of the wounded, sometimes because the fight started to get too close to the hamlet and someone came to warn her, as she lived in the outskirts.

Opening her door and seeing Mother Giselle on the other side hadn't been unexpected. However, the group accompanying her was another matter. A group formed by two humans, a elf and a dwarf was unusual, from what she had gathered. The humans, a man and a woman, were wearing heavy armor. The dwarf was simply armed with a crossbow and his outfit, with an open shirt, appeared to be a dare to anyone to try to hit him with an arrow. The elf, bald and wearing simple clothes, was a mage, judging by the staff at his back.

An eclectic group, to say the least.

“Cornelia,” started Giselle. “This is the Inquisition. They wanted to speak with you.”

Oh, this wasn't good.

*****

It had been a stroke of pure chance. They’re original plan was to speak with Mother Giselle about gathering support for the Inquisition, but after a conversation with her about their current situation, she had spoken to them about one of the refugees. 

“She knows her plants like no one else, Herald,” said the woman. “If your apothecary needs help, there’s no better choice than Cornelia.”

So they had followed the priestess back through the path that had led them originally to the hamlet, until they arrived at a hut at the start of the dirt. It was round, made out of wood, with a roof covered in vegetation and a tiny plot of land with plants growing on it.

The woman that answered the door was young. Pretty for a human, thought Solas. She didn’t look happy to see them, most likely related to the fact that half of her hair was still a bird nest.

“May we come in?” asked the priestess.

“Sure,” was the simple answer of the other woman, moving aside to allow them inside. The hut looked cramped with the six of them inside, but it was big enough for just one person.

The woman hastily made her bed and sat down, braiding her hair as best as she could.

“Did you need me to find some herbs?” she asked.

“Something like that,” said Maxwell. “Right now the Inquisition only has one apothecary under its employment, and he can barely keep up. Mother Giselle says that you’re the best one here with plants, and suggested we hired you.”

“I won’t call myself an apothecary, though,” answered Cornelia. “I simply know my plants, I barely know any recipes to-.”

“Oh, you’re being too humble,” said Mother Giselle. “She may not know the effects of every plant out there, but she’s a quick learner. Plus, Adan, their current apothecary, is an alchemist, Cornelia.”

The Herald nodded.

“We don’t need you to be an expert alchemist yourself. What we need right now is someone that knows how to tell deathroot apart from elfroot, and that can train others to do the same,” he said. “Also, the amount of plants we keep in storage will grow if everything works out, so we’ll need someone to keep track of them.”

Cornelia looked at the Herald, considering his offer.

“What about this place?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“There’s a war going on, in case you noticed. And there’s the problem with those green tears,” she said. “The wounded here also need me.”

“We’re working on it,” answered Cassandra. “I assure you that the Inquisition is doing its best to make this zone safe. We’re not just trying to stop the fight between templars and mages here, but also close the rifts.”

“You’re closing them? How?”

Maxwell took out his glove, showing the woman the bright green scar in the center of his palm.

“With this.”

The woman took hold of his hand to take a closer look at the Mark. She frowned slightly before letting go of his hand.

“Well, that’s an interesting scar.”

Solas frowned, looking at the woman.

“Will you join us, then?”

“If you keep your promise to make this place safe.”

She had used magic to check the Mark.


End file.
